Katie-Jo Page sits in a room she has prepared for Mykyta, a Ukrainian boy her family was in the process of adopting, in Snohomish, Wash., on Oct 2. Annie Tritt for NPR hide caption
Katie-Jo Page sits in a room she has prepared for Mykyta, a Ukrainian boy her family was in the process of adopting, in Snohomish, Wash., on Oct 2.
KYIV, Ukraine When Katie-Jo and Christian Page decided last winter to host a Ukrainian orphan in their home through the nonprofit Host Orphans Worldwide, adoption wasn't actually on their minds.
"We decided it wasn't something that we were going to be able to do just based on the travel aspects and financial reasons," 30-year-old Katie-Jo Page, from Snohomish, Wash., says.
But then they met Mykyta an 11-year-old with blond hair and lively hazel eyes from the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine. Page describes him as fun, joyful and a "good older brother" to their three young daughters.
The family started the process to adopt Mykyta on the second day of his stay.
"We just felt like he was a part of the family and he was meant to be in our family, so we knew we'd do whatever it took to make it official," she says.
Mykyta went back to Ukraine in January. The initial plan was for him to return to the United States in June for another visit, then they would go to Ukraine and finalize his adoption.
Ukraine had become the leading country from which Americans adopted children, surpassing China in 2020, according to U.S. State Department figures. But then Russia invaded in February, and the Ukrainian government halted all foreign adoptions. That left dozens of American families, such as the Pages, in limbo without a timeline on when they would get to finalize the adoptions and bring the children home.
"That was heartbreaking; there was so much unknown," Page recalls. She says at the beginning, Mykyta had "a lot of questions and he was asking when he was coming home."
Mykyta and the over 100 other children in his orphanage fled on a bus in early March to eastern Poland, where they now live in a fenced-in facility made up of a series of trailers.
The families interviewed for this story asked NPR not to name the organization caring for the orphans for the protection of the children. The organization has not responded to NPR's interview requests.
Jennifer Kelly-Rogers with her husband, Doug Rogers, in December 2021. Jennifer Kelly-Rogers hide caption
Jennifer Kelly-Rogers with her husband, Doug Rogers, in December 2021.
Page has visited Mykyta there three times since he was evacuated twice as a volunteer and once as a visitor along with two of her daughters.
"We are very thankful for the location that they're at," she says. "And Poland has been very accommodating, but it's not their home."
Jennifer Kelly-Rogers, another American woman who comes to visit and volunteer, says the place is a little like summer camp. NPR spoke to Kelly-Rogers while she was on her third visit to see Maksym, a 14-year-old from southern Ukraine whom her family was in the process of adopting when Russia invaded. Her family temporarily hosted Maksym in their home in Honeoye, N.Y., also through Host Orphans Worldwide, a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit.
The kids perform daily lessons and activities, Kelly-Rogers, 49, says. They also eat together, play games and celebrate birthdays. But, she says, it's generally an "uncomfortable situation."
"They just can't get the schooling they need and most of the kids there are crying because they want their families," Kelly-Rogers says.
Meanwhile, she says, the facility is struggling financially and the organizers are unsure whether they will be able to afford food and heating; the upcoming winter is particularly concerning.
"It's stressful for everyone and they all need a break," she says.
Daniel Stevens, the executive director of the upstate New York adoption agency Family Connections Inc., works with nearly 30 families who have had their adoption procedures halted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Jennifer Kelly-Rogers and Maksym hold hands at the facility in Poland in May. Kelly-Rogers was in the process of adopting 14-year-old Maksym when Russia invaded Ukraine. Jennifer Kelly-Rogers hide caption
Jennifer Kelly-Rogers and Maksym hold hands at the facility in Poland in May. Kelly-Rogers was in the process of adopting 14-year-old Maksym when Russia invaded Ukraine.
He says six of those families including Kelly-Rogers and Page had already finalized their paperwork required by the U.S. government and were ready to submit the necessary documents to Ukraine's central adoption authority. Had the Ukrainian government been processing adoptions, the families would have then been officially matched with the children and the Ukrainian side of the adoption process would have begun.
"So we have families in the United States who have relationships with these kids; these kids feel safe with these families," Stevens tells NPR. "And now they don't really have a caregiver in the sense of someone they can love and trust to tell them it's going to be OK."
He says some families, including Page and Kelly-Rogers, have asked the Ukrainian government for the children to be released to their American would-be parents.
"These families are willing to pay for the costs of the travel, of providing for these kids, and when it is deemed safe for these children to return to Ukraine, these families would return these kids and then finish the adoption process," he says.
They've asked members of Congress for help, Stevens says, but even though 75 lawmakers signed a letter urging movement on the issue, the State Department says adoptions should not proceed amid the war.
Before the conflict, hundreds of children were adopted from Ukraine into the U.S. annually, according to State Department statistics.
Michelle Bernier-Toth, the special adviser for children's issues in the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department, which handles intercountry adoptions, says it is normal for countries to stop adoptions during times like this.
"When there is a crisis, be it a war, an invasion or a natural disaster, that is not a time to initiate intercountry adoptions or even domestic adoptions," she says. "Because you don't know if the children who have been separated from family members, do they have parents, do they have families that are looking for them?"
However, Bernier-Toth noted that the department has been working with its Ukrainian counterparts to complete the adoptions that had already been approved by both countries before the war began.
Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy declined an interview with NPR for this story.
Daria Herasymchuk, an adviser to the Ukrainian president on children and child rehabilitation, says Ukraine cannot allow children to go to families it hasn't properly vetted.
"We cannot transfer a child from one dangerous situation to another. We must comply with the entire procedure and do it with caution," she says, noting that orphans evacuated from the country such as Mykyta and Maksym are not refugees and still citizens of Ukraine.
"These children will be returned to the territory of Ukraine ... and the [adoption] procedure will take place here so we can monitor it," Herasymchuk says. "We cannot just send Ukrainian children to the families now and not be able to control it."
Katie-Jo and Christian Page along with their three children Emalyn, Makenna and Kyla (hiding), at their home in Snohomish, Wash., on Oct. 2. Annie Tritt for NPR hide caption
Katie-Jo and Christian Page along with their three children Emalyn, Makenna and Kyla (hiding), at their home in Snohomish, Wash., on Oct. 2.
She assures anxious families that they will not have to start the adoption process over from scratch, but that intercountry adoptions will only resume when the war ends.
For now, parents must wait.
Katie-Jo Page and her family talk to Mykyta three times a day. She says their bond and trust have grown strong over the months.
"He knows that I am working towards getting him home and will do everything I can," she says.
Page is headed back to Poland soon. She says the thousands of dollars and loads of hours she's spent so far on these trips to see Mykyta are worth it.
"I can't imagine not going when I have the opportunity because I don't want Mykyta to lose hope and know how loved he is," she says. "And that we won't give up on him."
Go here to read the rest:
Ukraine had the most adoptions to the U.S. Now families must wait for war to end - NPR
- WA woman in Ukraine to join foreign legion and fight Russia, and hopes to work as a medic - ABC News [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Ukrainian women are volunteering to fight, continuing a tradition - NPR [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Ukraine suspends 11 political parties with links to Russia - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Russias Ukraine Invasion Rallies a Divided Nation: The United States - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Ukraines Radio Station of National Resistance - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Theres an easy way to help Ukraine without military escalation: cancel its foreign debt - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Putin appears at big rally as troops press attack in Ukraine - The Associated Press - en Espaol [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- The Complexities of the Ukraine Dilemma - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- What Happened on Day 23 of Russias Invasion of Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- The power of the new Ukraine - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Ukraines leader warns war will cost Russia for generations - Al Jazeera English [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- SWIFT, hedgehog, MiG: Here's a guide to the terms of war in Ukraine - NPR [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Ukraine Maps & Facts - World Atlas [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Ukraine War Update: Refusing to surrender Mariupol to ... [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2022] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2022]
- Fiction About Lives in Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Disrupting cyberattacks targeting Ukraine - Microsoft On the Issues - Microsoft [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- How Facial Recognition Is Being Used in the Ukraine War - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- A Ukrainian mom scribbled her contact info on her daughter's back as the war erupted - NPR [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Russia can only afford its war in Ukraine because Britain helped raise the cash - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Ukraine braces for a renewed Russian offensive on its eastern front as it happened - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Russians start to see evidence of high military casualties in Ukraine - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Ukraine war disruptions send food prices to their highest ever - Al Jazeera English [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Statement from the President on Delivery of Air Defense Systems to Ukraine - The White House [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Russia-Ukraine war: catch up on this week's must-read news and analysis - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- Rocket attack on Ukraine train station kills at least 50 trying to flee, scores injured - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- War in Ukraine: Latest developments - france24.com [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- War In Ukraine: Latest Developments [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2022]
- How (members of) Pink Floyd reunited to record a song for Ukraine - NPR [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Opinion | America Needs to Be Strategic About the War in Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Ukraine Needs a Lot of Things, but Sean Penns Drama Isnt One of Them (Column) - Variety [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Why the Ukraine-Russia war is dividing the Australian Chinese community - ABC News [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- This is what a Ukraine town looks like after Russian troops withdraw - NPR [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Poland-Ukraine ties seen as target of Russian disinformation - The Associated Press - en Espaol [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Witnessing atrocities in real time in Ukraine is changing everything - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Ukraine's first lady recalls moment she realized her country was at war: LIVE UPDATES - Fox News [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Ukraine latest: White House press secretary says Ukrainians 'won the battle of Kyiv', World Bank forecasts war will slash economy in half - ABC News [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Desperate Ukraine tells U.S. 'bureaucracy' is no excuse for failing to provide critical weapons and ammunition - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Prosecution of Russian war crimes is ultimate test for Ukraines state - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Live Updates | War in Ukraine inspires protest in Chile - The Associated Press - en Espaol [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- What Happened on Day 45 of the War in Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Ukraine war: Tens of thousands may have been killed in Mariupol, Zelenskyy says, as he warns of 'tense' week ahead - Sky News [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- Russia-Ukraine War: Live Updates and Latest News - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2022]
- How Ukraine's mud became a secret weapon in its defense against Russia - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Remarks By President Biden Providing an Update on Russia and Ukraine - The White House [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Ukraine war: 'We will stay here as long as we can' - ambulance crews defiant as Russian forces almost encircle frontline city - Sky News [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Ukraine says mass graves in Mariupol were 20 times bigger than Bucha burial site; Biden to send more weapons and aid to Ukraine - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Roots of the Resistance: Understanding National Identity in Ukraine - War on the Rocks [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- What Happened on Day 57 of the War in Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- The War in Ukraine Has Unleashed a New Word - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- The U.N. now projects more than 8 million people will flee Ukraine as refugees - NPR [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Russias war in Ukraine threatens to spill over in dangerous new phase - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- US, allies hustling to save Ukraine; Rand Paul says US push to get Ukraine into NATO provoked invasion: April 26 recap - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- What Happened on Day 62 of the War in Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Russia warns Britain for provoking Ukraine [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2022]
- Is Hungary Ukraine's Biggest Problem in the European Union? - War on the Rocks [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Ukraine war: Thousands of UK troops to be sent to Europe in bid to combat Russian aggression - Sky News [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- The hybrid war in Ukraine - Microsoft On the Issues - Microsoft [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- DJI suspends sales in Ukraine and Russia - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Congress Clears Bill to Allow Lending Arms to Ukraine - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- How this U.S.-made, $176,000 anti-tank weapon could change the war in Ukraine - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Malcolm Nance, TV pundit turned fighter in Ukraine: I believe in the defense of democracy - The Guardian US [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Briton and American Killed in Ukraine - The Moscow Times [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Ukraines Zelenskyy invited to G20 summit to be attended by Putin - Al Jazeera English [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- The Ukraine war in maps: Attacks in Transnistria fuel fears that Russian aggression may spill over border - EL PAS in English [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Russias push into eastern Ukraine comes amid fears of a protracted war - The Guardian [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Biden requests $33 billion for Ukraine war; Putin threatens 'lightning fast' retaliation to nations that intervene - CNBC [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Russia sharpens warnings as the U.S. and Europe send more weapons to Ukraine - NPR [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Ukraine-Russia War: Latest News and Live Updates - The New York Times [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2022] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2022]
- Ukraine war boosts weapons makers' stock prices, but revenue to take years to flow through - ABC News [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- Ukraine Crisis Reveals the Folly of Organic Farming - The Wall Street Journal [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- WFP appeals for re-opening of Ukraine ports to avert looming famine threat - UN News [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- I didnt believe stories of atrocities in Ukraine. But then I saw the photos - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- The War in Ukraine, as Seen on Russian TV - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- How hospital wedding dance restored Ukraine bombing victims will to live - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- Finland, Sweden need to move now on NATO while Putin is preoccupied with Ukraine, former secretary general says - CNBC [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- How Russia and Ukraine are finding new ways to use tech in the war - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- 'This has to end': Jill Biden sees Ukraine moms' heartbreak - The Associated Press - en Espaol [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- The Lessons Taiwan Is Learning From Ukraine - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- Ukraine Made Exactly One Copy Of Its Best Cannon. It Just Joined The War. - Forbes [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]
- UK poised to hand further 1.3bn military package to Ukraine - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2022]